Celebrity manicurist Kandi Banks was in town Thursday to do an event at the Nokia Lumia Lounge and we had her pause long enough to share her advice.

First, what did she have to say about the all-American girl’s nails? “I think it’s great that Missy Franklin wore stars and stripes on her nails to show how excited she was to participate in the Olympics this year,” she said. “Getting this look takes some time, but with a little patience, you can have nails just like Missy.”

Franklin had four fingers on her right hand polished with red and four on her left with bright blue polish. Then on the ring finger of each hand, a manicurist created a flag design. Here are Kandi’s tips on how to get the flag design.

The Olympic Games might not always launch fashion trends, but it’s likely that Missy Franklin‘s patriotic manicure will inspire a lot of copycats.

When the Colorado swimmer is waiting to get in the pool at the Aquatics Centre in London and while showing off her gold medals, she has been flashing red, white and blue nails. Specifically, her right hand sports bright red polish, her left hand a vivid blue and the ring finger on each has a flag design painted on it.

She even tweeted about it, saying that she was ready for the pool after getting her nails done.

We can’t say for sure how the flag is done, but it looks like the nail is painted white, then thin red stripes are added. The tip is blue and has tiny white stars on it.